[March 26, 2014]Bill Thomas, of Atlanta,
accepted an offer made by the Lincoln & Logan County Development
Partnership at its monthly meeting on Monday to extend his contract
through Oct. 31.

Thomas was hired as interim executive director of the development
partnership on Feb. 3, with an appointment of 90 days. He was asked
to administer the partnership while it, along with Main Street
Lincoln, the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, and the
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce worked together as the
"Unified Organization Committee" to consider each group's mission,
governance, functions and responsibilities, with the aim of
providing more effective and efficient services.

At Monday
evening's meeting of the development partnership board, chairman Bob
Pharis recommended the extension of Thomas' contract, noting it was
likely to take more than 90 days for the committee to conclude its
work.

Since joining the development partnership several weeks ago,
Thomas has focused on a set of 90-day strategic goals he developed,
including helping move the city of Lincoln's portion of the Fifth
Street Road project forward, working with a sewer extension project
designed to expand factory capacity at Heritage Packaging, plus
reaching out to the other communities in Logan County to assist with
their economic development needs. In accepting the contract
extension, Thomas indicated he would now put together a new
strategic plan that extends to Oct. 31.

Over the past 20 years, Thomas has been active locally and on the
state level with a number of economic development projects,
especially related to leveraging tourism for economic development
purposes. He brings a background in strategic planning, along with
experience in fundraising and grant writing, to this new position
with the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership.